Scholarships

Each year the American Mensa Education and Research Foundation awards scholarships of up to $2,500 to individuals pursuing higher education. Both Mensa members and nonmembers may enter the scholarship competition.

Orange County Mensa actively participates in this program by judging local entries. We also do fund-raising to benefit our Educational Fund for the Orange County Mensa Scholarship, which is administered through the Mensa Foundation.

2018 Mensa Scholarship Winners

from Orange County, California

The Mensa Foundation recently announced that 179 scholarships have been awarded nationwide and internationally as a result of this year’s scholarship essay competition, with a combined value of more than $130,000.

Orange County Mensa is proud that five winners are from Orange County, California. Congratulations to the following:

Past Winners

If you plan to enter your own essay in the competition, look these essays over first to see what our judges have liked in the past. Whether you’re a contestant or not, you’ll enjoy reading some excellent writing from some scholars of high intelligence.

Help support Orange County Mensa’s Scholarship Fund!

Please specify that you want your donation to benefit the Orange County Mensa Scholarship. Your donation may help us increase the dollar amount of the scholarship we are able to award.

Because our scholarship is administered by the Mensa Foundation, your donation may be tax-deductible, but please consult your tax adviser. Note that you do not need to be a member of Orange County Mensa, nor reside within Orange County, to make a donation. If desired, your donation can be anonymous.

Volunteer to Be a Judge for Next Year’s Scholarships

We need judges to read and evaluate essays submitted by students in Orange County. Judging on the local level happens during a three or four week period in late January/early February. For more information, contact our Scholarship Chair, Jessica Doss, at scholarship@ocmensa.org.

Judging Process

For those with inquiring minds, the following describes, in detail, the judging process.

At the heart of the national public scholarship program are some 400 or more volunteers, most of whom are members of American Mensa. These volunteers receive and judge the essays on three levels: local, regional and national.

Local judges, such as those in Orange County Mensa, begin the judging. Winning essays then are sent to the regional scholarship level. Orange County Mensa is in Region Nine.

Each local group that participates is guaranteed a minimum of one $600 Foundation scholarship for one of the entrants from their local group competition. This winner is determined by the next higher, regional, level of judging.

At the regional level, the judging process begins all over again, with all the entries submitted from each participating local group in the region. All essays are once again considered eligible for all special national awards as well as local and regional awards and are judged again. The regional judging committee selects the best of the region in all special categories, and the best remaining 4 to be sent on to national judging as possible winners of regional and special national awards.

National level judges conduct two rounds of national judging. The first round ranks the scholarships for regional awards, and selects the finalists from each region for the special national awards. Then, a second round of judging determines the top award winner and the winners of the restricted, or specific, national awards. After that, the regional winners are identified from the rankings from national judging. Last, the local award winners are identified from the rankings done at the regional level for each participating local group. The over-riding rules for selection are twofold. First, the highest scoring qualifying applicant wins the award. Second, there is exactly one award for each applicant.

There are also a few special regional and local awards that are awarded in this process: Again, just one award for each applicant.

After final judging, the winners’ list is approved by the Board of Trustees and all winning awards are announced by the end of June of the competition year.

Upcoming OCM Events

We have a full calendar of activities, ranging from lunches and happy hours to games nights, discussion groups, trivia, and parties. The events are open to all Mensa members and their guests, as well as to prospective members.